We Are the Rabbits
by CloverKitten06
Summary: What if Bae was sent 300 years into the future? What if Belle's father refused to talk to Rumpelstilzkin about the Ogres? What if it cost him everything? Belle is a bandit with Robin Hood's men now. During a hunting trip they find Bae and take him into their camp. What is he hiding though? Who is he really running from? AU Rumbelle R/R! STORY ON HOLD. SEE PROFILE FOR EXPLANATION.


**Author's Note: So this is technically a songfic based off of "Rangers" by A Fine Frenzy. Great song, y'all should totally look it up. Anyway. I hope y'all enjoy! Don't forget to R/R! I do love feedback!**

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We Are the Rabbits

"Papa! Papa, please come with me! Papa!" He cried out, reaching for his father's hand. In his heart though, Bae knew he wasn't going to come. The man that had once been his father had become addicted to the power that he received. Still he wanted to save him.

"I can't, Bae!" Rumpelstilzkin sobbed, watching as his boy disappeared into the portal opened by the bean. Damn that Blue Fairy! This was all her fault! That's what Rumpel told himself at least. He wasn't ready to face the truth just yet.

Bae was gone in the next instant, moving through the portal at a sickening place. He was terrified and had no idea what was going to happen to him. Maybe he was going to die. Maybe he would end up in a world worse than the one he left. There was only one thing that he knew for sure: it didn't matter how much power his father had; the man would always be a coward.

Belle was hiding among the trees with the other men of Robin Hood's band while they waited for a big enough deer to come by. It was tedious work, but Belle found that she enjoyed it. This was the adventure she had always been longing for. Shadows passed over her sapphire eyes. She just wished it hadn't come at such a high price. Her whole village was gone, her father was dead and her fiancé was most likely dead too.

Little John had to nudge Belle to get her to pay attention when he noticed her eyes glaze over. They really couldn't afford to lose the chance at fresh meat. Food was running low as it was, and though Belle had been with the group for almost a year, she still needed to prove herself a bit.

The former noblewoman snapped back to attention and set her jaw, her gaze becoming rather fierce now. She was going to help bring in food this time. Most of the time she was ordered to stay behind and mend clothes because they didn't think she would be worth much hunting wise. It took her three months to convince them she could be of use out there. Belle was able to bring in small game after a few tries, but she still had not been invited to go on a real hunting trip until now. Truth be told, the only reason they let her come this time was because Will Scarlet was sick and the other men were hunting in another part of the wood. Marion was with Scarlet and Little John decided to let Belle prove herself. So far everything was going well.

Belle adapted well to living in the wood and could shoot as well as most of the men, but the stain of being a former noble still clouded judgment when it really shouldn't have. The blue eyed woman blinked and focused hard on a spot before slowly pulling out her bow and shifting a little. It was definitely a deer. Belle held her breath for a moment before pulling an arrow out of her quiver and drawing her bow back. One of the men almost stopped her, but John held up his hand so she could concentrate. It was now or never for Belle.

_Hiss! Thunk_. The arrow flew through the air and the deer hit the ground. Belle grinned and led the way to her first kill. It was a big one too. Good enough for at least three days if they split it right. None of the other men could have done worse. "Not bad, Belle." Little John rumbled softly. "Not bad at all." The other men nodded in agreement and Belle got to work field dressing the deer with another one of the men while the others kept watch. Rangers could be anywhere.

The band was packing up the deer to take back to camp when the wind started to pick up around them. A strange green light started to rise up from the ground a few feet away from the group and they all started to back away quickly. Magic was something they were used to seeing, but good things rarely came of it. The portal opened more and more until a young boy was thrown out of it and landed on his stomach in front of the hunters.

Baelfire coughed and fought to catch his breath. He landed pretty hard, but he didn't hurt himself. When he finally looked up, he saw the pointy end of a sword that was being held by an extremely large man. "Who are you?" The man growled. "Where did you come from? Who sent you here?"

The boy could only look around until his breath was caught. "My... My name is Baelfire." He said quietly. "No one sent me, I just... I just came. I was trying to get away..."

"Away from what?" Little John snapped. "Who was chasing you?" He couldn't bring the boy in the camp if he was going to be a threat to the rest of them. There was just no way he would be able to live with himself.

"A monster." Bae answered quietly. He shook his head some. "The monster that killed my father."

Belle instantly felt a connection with the boy. She stepped forward before kneeling down to be at eye level with this Baelfire. He couldn't be more than fourteen. "John surely we could help him." She said, looking back at the bigger man. "He's able bodied. And he was able to outrun a monster. That must mean something."

Bae eyed the woman beside him for a moment before he sat up and settled onto his knees. He still wasn't entirely sure where he was, but right now that didn't matter. As long as there was no sign of his father then he would be fine. "I can hunt." Bae offered. "And fish and I'm decent with a sword. I can sew too."

Little John looked in between the two before he rubbed the back of his neck some. "You're the one that'll be showing him the ropes, you hear me?" He said pointing to Belle. "If he proves himself then that's fine, but we've got more important things to do with winter coming on than babysitting a kid."

The woman nodded in understanding and she got up, helping Bae to his feet. "Alright, I'll look out for him." She vowed.

John nodded and started to lead the way back towards camp. "Come on then."

Belle let the rest get ahead of them before motioning for Baelfire to follow. "Don't worry about them, Baelfire. It just takes awhile for them to get used to someone new. They're still not used to me yet."

"Call me, Bae." He said softly. "What's your name?"

"Belle. My name is Belle. It's nice to meet you, Bae." She said lightly, looking over at him. "So how were you able to get here? That portal looked like magic."

Bae blinked and looked at her. "Magic... There's not supposed to be magic here..."

Belle raised an eyebrow. "Why not? There's magic everywhere." She said simply. "It's not always good, but it's here."

"That... thing was supposed to bring me to a land without magic... That's where I'd be able to..." Bae paused and shadows flashed over his face. "Escape the monster... I'm probably not safe here."

The woman rubbed his shoulder softly. "No one is ever really safe." She said softly. "No matter how much we wish it were the case. My father thought we were safe behind our walls until the Ogres came... They killed everyone except for myself and a few others."

"Ogres are still here? But the Ogre War is over..." Bae said, thinking out loud more than talking to Belle.

"There have been three Ogre Wars, Bae." Belle said, sounding a bit surprised that he didn't know that. "They haven't been wiped out quite yet..."

Bae blinked and looked down some, thinking. If there had been two more wars since the first one... And he was in the same land. Then he must have been transported through time instead of to another world. Why would the Blue Fairy lie to him like that!? Why!? "When did the first Ogre War end, Belle?" He asked. "How many years ago?"

Belle had to close her eyes for a second and think about what she read. It had been so long ago. "About... Three hundred years I think. I don't know. I can't remember what my book said. But three hundred years sounds right."

The boy blinked and stumbled. Three hundred years... Wow. He had been sent three hundred years into the future. "Wow." He said quietly. "That's uhm... That's a long time."

She nodded in agreement. "I remember my book saying how the Dark One defeated the Ogres in the first war and saved the children. I tried to get my father to call him so he would save our village as well, but..." Belle shook her head. "As I said, he thought we were safe behind our walls."

Bae nodded some and his tone grew bitter. "All magic comes with a price." He muttered. "You probably wouldn't have wanted to pay it."

Belle shrugged some and looked up at the sky. "I would have paid anything if it meant keeping my father alive... But the Ogres killed him when they broke through our walls."

The boy looked over at her with some sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Belle." He said quietly. "I wish my father were still around too..." The monster that Rumpelstilzkin became wasn't his father. No. He was something else entirely, and Bae wanted nothing to do with him. Not even for a moment.

Belle put a sympathetic arm around Bae's shoulder before she gasped at the sound of the horns blowing in the distance. "Shit." She whispered. "Rangers. Come on!" She tugged the boy into a run and they started weaving through the woods, hoping to get to the camp before the Rangers could catch them.

"Rangers?" Bae questioned as they ran. "What are they?"

The noblewoman turned bandit laughed. "They are the hunters." She responded.

Bae nodded and saved his breath for a moment before asking. "So what are we?"

Belle laughed again. "We are the Rabbits."


End file.
